Hello, I Love You
by Gogo Starship
Summary: Sirius believed life was only for pranking, sleeping with random birds, and generally just messing around. She taught him that sometimes, actually being serious wasn't so bad.


**A/N: Hello, HP lovers! We just wanted to start off by letting you know that this is a co-written story. We hope you enjoy it! We've put a lot of time and effort into creating it.**

**Hello, I Love You**

**Chapter One**

"Fire in the hole!" Sirius whispered to his best friend as he slid into his seat at the Gryffindor table. James Potter glanced at him in confusion.

"What did you do?" he asked, focusing his attention on Sirius, rather than Lily Evans, James' new girlfriend.

"I may have put some Swelling Solution in the Slytherins' pumpkin juice," he said nonchalantly. "But then again, I might not have."

"I'm sorry, what?" Remus Lupin, Sirius' other best friend, interjected.

"Meaning no one saw me," Sirius answered. "So no one can prove that it was me." He gave one of his famous wolfish grins, and poured himself a glass of milk.

"Don't you think that's a little harsh?" Lily asked with a frown.

"They're Slytherins," Sirius said. "They deserve it."

"If anyone asks me, I'm not going to lie for you," Lily added.

"No one's going to ask you," Sirius told her, rolling his grey eyes. "And no one asked you to lie for me, either."

"Fine," Lily said, turning back to her breakfast.

"_Fine_," Sirius mimicked to himself, making a face. He took another drink of milk, and stabbed a sausage on his fork. He had just taken a bite when he heard a commotion coming from the Slytherin table. He turned his head and met a beautiful sight. Slytherins were jumping up, their mouths open in an odd, strangled sound. Professor Slughorn was approaching to investigate. Sirius watched gleefully as Slytherin after Slytherin were sent to the Hospital Wing.

"I want to know who did this, and I want to know this _instant_!" Professor Slughorn shouted, his voice reverberating across the quiet room. His glare quickly found the Marauders, known trouble-makers, and he marched over. "It was you, wasn't it?" he asked them quietly. His gaze swept over the three of them, and Sirius shot a look at Lily. She was Slughorn's favorite student, and Sirius could tell she was on the verge of blurting out Sirius' name.

Thinking quickly, Sirius decided his punishment might be lessened if he confessed. "It was me," he told Slughorn. "And I did it by myself. James and Remus had nothing to do with it, I swear."

"Very well, Mr. Black," Slughorn said. "Come with me."

Sirius got to his feet and trudged after Professor Slughorn. Out in the entrance hall, Slughorn rounded on him. "After your classes this morning, you are going to spend the rest of the day shelving books for Madame Pince," he spat angrily, an awful look on his face. Sirius didn't think he had ever seen Slughorn this angry. "Do you know how dangerous your little stunt could have been?"

"No, sir," Sirius said quietly.

"Well you will think about what could have happened to all those poor students while you shelve those books later."

"Yes, sir," Sirius said.

"And make sure you do a good job of it."

"Yes, sir," he repeated.

"Go finish your breakfast," Slughorn said gruffly, seemingly calmer than before. He returned to the Great Hall, and Sirius waited a few minutes before following. He ate the rest of his breakfast in silence, ignoring any attempts at conversation from James and Remus. Normally, he couldn't care less about getting a detention for a good prank, but he usually had James to serve detention with him. Sometimes the two of them even had Remus with them. This was the first time Sirius had earned a detention alone.

Classes were as uninteresting as ever, but James managed to cheer Sirius up during their second class. He offered to skip Charms with Sirius and raid the kitchen, something they hadn't done in quite a while due to the fact that their seventh-year classes were so important. Lily gave them a disapproving look, but James ignored it. When Transfiguration was over, James and Sirius went downstairs to the fruit painting, while Lily and Remus went to Charms. When they reached the painting that concealed the kitchens, Sirius tickled the pear and grabbed the handle that formed.

"Masters Potter and Black!" a voice squeaked when they entered. "How good it is to see you!"

"Master Potter! Master Black!" other voices chimed in.

"Hey guys," Sirius said, smiling down at the house elves.

"What may we be getting you today, Master Black?" one house elf asked.

"I'd love a roast beef sandwich," Sirius decided. "And some pumpkin pasties, and maybe even a glass of chocolate milk?"

"Of course, Master Black!" the elf squeaked, bowing low before running off to fill Sirius' order. James asked for food as well, and in a few minutes, they were being presented with a tray of delicious looking dishes. Sirius picked up his roast beef sandwich and took a bite. The meat was so flavorful, Sirius wondered if it had been charmed. His chocolate milk was rich and thick, the perfect combination. The pumpkin pasties were sweet, covered with a light sprinkle of powdered sugar.

"Brilliant," he announced after a few bites. "As usual."

"Thank you, Master Black!" the house elves said in unison. Sirius would never understand why they enjoyed cooking and cleaning and serving so much, but they did. It made them happier than he could imagine when he complimented their cooking. He remembered to do so every time he and James visited; It kept the house elves happy to see them.

Their next hour was a free period, which could have been used for raiding the kitchen, but didn't hold quite the same appeal as ditching class. They met Remus and Lily in the Gryffindor common room, where Remus was kind enough to go over what James and Sirius had missed in Charms, while Lily gave them a disapproving stare. Finally, Sirius got annoyed. "Could you stop?" he said to Lily. "You're his girlfriend, not his mum, so start lightening up before he gets bored with you."

Expressions of shock crossed not only Lily's face, but Remus and James' as well. "Padfoot, don't say things like that," James said.

"I'm sick of her acting like she's the boss of everyone and that she knows what's best and no one else does," Sirius snapped. "She bugs the living hell out of me, if you want me to be honest."

Lily hung her head, her face turning a light shade of pink. Sirius, however, didn't feel sorry for her. "I'm out of here," he announced, standing up. "Let me know when you're done with the Know-It-All." He left the Gryffindor common room without another word, and was disappointed when no one called after him. "Whatever," he grumbled to himself, going down to the Great Hall. It would be time for lunch soon, and he was hungry again, despite the meal he had wolfed down an hour ago.

Sitting on the grand staircase, his elbows resting on his knees and his chin in the palm of his hand, Sirius was moping. He had been happy for James when Lily had started showing an interest, but now it seemed like Lily was all James cared about. Their hour in the kitchen had been like old times, but those rare moments of peace were slowly disappearing as Lily took over. None of James' other girlfriends had taken up so much time or even annoyed Sirius so much. Lily seemed to be the reigning queen of all things annoying.

When the Great Hall was opened for lunch, Sirius sat at the end of the table nearest the teachers. Unless his friends arrived before everyone else, they would be unable to find him. He wasn't in the mood for talking. In the back of his mind, Sirius knew he was overreacting a bit, but he couldn't help feeling angry. His best mate was more interested in a girl than him! Didn't the saying go 'mates before dates'? Some friend James was being.

After eating a lunch of fried chicken, baked potatoes, and pumpkin juice, he went back up to the common room to get his school bag. He still had to go to Defense Against the Dark Arts, and then he had a full day of shelving books in the library to look forward to. At least it would give him an excuse to stay away from the common room, especially James and Lily. Just the thought of them was beginning to make him sick.

In his attempt to stay away from James, Sirius ended up being the first person to arrive in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Their teacher, Professor Brooks, looked surprised to see him. "You're here early," he said. "Not even just on time. Early." He eyed Sirius suspiciously. "Is there something you want? An extension on your homework?"

Sirius shrugged. "I just don't have anywhere better to be," he answered.

"Well... Stay out of trouble," Professor Brooks ordered, then climbed the small, spiral staircase to his office. With nothing better to do, Sirius pulled out his wand and charmed a plastic frog in the corner to dance. Ten minutes later, the class was filled, and Sirius was sitting next to a Hufflepuff girl whom he had never even seen before. The next hour was filled with the agony of actually having to pay attention because he didn't have James to pass notes with. By the time class was over, he looked down and realized he had actually taken notes.

"Mr. Black," Professor Brooks said, standing in front of Sirius's desk after the bell had rung. "Professor Slughorn informed me that you have detention now."

"Yeah, yeah," Sirius said, shoving his things into his bag. "I'm going."

"Good," Professor Brooks said. "If you're not to the library in ten minutes, Madame Pince has instructions to double your detention. So I would hurry if I were you."

"Right," Sirius said, grabbing his bag. Instead of hurrying, like Professor Brooks suggested, he strolled leisurely down the hall to the library. He made it with twenty two seconds to spare, according to Madame Pince. She sent him over to the historical section and pushed a cart of books next to him. "I want these in alphabetical order by the last name of the author. In the case of the same author, I expect you to color code them. You may not use magic."

"Goody," Sirius mumbled, then began picking the books up off the cart. After he had been working for about ten minutes, a group of students came into the library and seated themselves at the table nearest him. Easily distracted, he stopped for a moment to watch them. Along with a number of other students, the group consisted of a very short brunette girl, who's hands were covered in paint, a tall blond boy, and a very pretty girl with jet-black hair that was twisted back into braids. Woven into her braids were strands of blue and bronze ribbon.

He studied them for a minute, before deciding that the girl with the braids looked familiar. He couldn't decide why, but went back to shelving books, his mind working furiously to solve the mystery. Who was she, and why did she look like someone he knew? He didn't think he had ever seen her around school before, but that didn't make sense. Shrugging, he continued his work. Maybe if he was lucky, Madame Pince would let him go when he was done with this cart of books.

The group was close enough that Sirius could hear every word they were saying. He wasn't paying much attention, until he heard his name. "That's Sirius Black," the blond boy was saying. "He's the one that put the Swelling Solution in our pumpkin juice this morning."

_So he's a Slytherin_, Sirius thought to himself.

"He's the one?" the girl with the braids asked in a cold tone.

"That's him," the blond affirmed.

There was a sound of wood scraping on stone as the girl with braids pushed her chair back and stomped over to where Sirius was shelving books. He put the book he was holding on the shelf and turned to her casually. "Yes?" he asked.

"You...," she began, her face slowly turning red. Sirius could tell she was furious, but he couldn't help grinning and feeling slightly amused. "Do you have_any_ idea how big of an idiot you are?" she demanded.

"I've been told a few times," he joked.

"You could have killed someone!" she exploded. "You're lucky everyone's tongues swelled up before any of the potion got into their throats! It would have blocked their airways and they would have suffocated. Did you even think about that before you went around dumping Swelling Solution into everyone's pumpkin juice?"

"No," Sirius said slowly. "Not really. I just kind of did it."

The girl closed her blue eyes for a brief second, before they snapped open again, a fierce glint in them. "You are the biggest moron I have ever met in my entire life!" she screamed.

"_Arabella Potter_!" Madame Pince was suddenly hovering over them. "You will keep your voice down in my library, or leave."

"Sorry," Arabella mumbled, looked down at her feet. Madame Pince glared at the pair of them before leaving.

"Wait... Potter?" Sirius asked, his brain suddenly making the connection. "Arabella, as in James Potter's cousin Ella?"

"Yes, I'm James' cousin," Arabella snapped. After a moment, Sirius realized why she looked so familiar. Not because she was James' cousin, but because of a memory he had from second year.

"_Hey, Sirius! Remus!" James called, waving his two best friends over. Sirius looked up from a dung bomb he was perfecting and saw James standing a little ways off with a first-year girl. They had the same jet-black hair, but that was where the similarities stopped. Her eyes were a deep blue color, while James' were hazel, their skin tones differed, and even their stature. However, they both seemed to have the same charm that drew people towards them. Sirius set his dung bomb down and went to join them._

"_What's up?" he asked, pretending not to notice the girl. Remus came up beside him and shot a curious glance at her._

"_This is Arabella," James said. "She's my cousin. Ella, this is Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, my good friends."_

"_Pleasure to meet you," Arabella said, shaking hands with Remus before focusing her blue gaze on Sirius. His grey eyes met hers, and they examined each other for a long moment._

"_Do you like your classes?" Sirius asked, blurting out something random._

"_They're quite interesting, I have to say," Arabella replied. "I quite enjoy Potions."_

"_Have you had Transfiguration yet?" he asked. "Professor McGonagall is really tough. If you don't turn your homework in on time, she'll transfigure you into a ferret."_

"_I'm so sure," Arabella said, a faint smile playing on her lips._

"What's it to you?" Arabella added, a look of annoyance on her face.

"You don't remember me at all?" Sirius asked. "I'm the one that told you that you Professor McGonagall would turn you into a ferret if you didn't get all your homework done on time."

"That was not funny," she said seriously, a hint of realization in her eyes.

"Sure it was," Sirius replied, his smile back.

Arabella shook her head. "Next time, think before you plan on doing something so stupid." She turned on her heel, braids whipping around, and stomped back to where her friends were waiting.

"Wow," was all Sirius had left to say.

**A/N: So let us know what you think! Leave a review.**

**Sincerely,**

**Morgan and Cori**


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